David Copperfield ditches gloom and has a lot more fun than the classic
I LOVE Armando Iannucci – his sense of humour and work with Steve Coogan, Chris Morris et al shaped my form-ative years.
Seeing him broaden his appeal with Veep, In The Loop and last year’s wonderful The Death Of Stalin has been a true joy.
I’ll admit to being puzzled at the director’s choice of material this time round. The co-writer of Alan Partridge taking on David Copperfield did not feel like the perfect fit.
But once you scratch below the surface of this seemingly traditional imagining, you realise that, once again, Iannucci is flexing his absurdity muscle to great effect. Let’s talk about the cast.
Heaven forbid if Armando ever left his mobile on the Tube, his contacts list is incredible. Anyone who’s anyone wants the chance to work with him.
Here, we’ve got Dev Patel, Benedict Wong, Tilda Swinton, Hugh Laurie, Ben Whishaw and Malcolm Tucker himself, Peter Capaldi, all dropping in.
You probably know the story, it’s quite famous. David, mainly brought up by Peggotty, his nursemaid, is aghast at his mother’s marriage to the horrid Mr Murdstone (the brilliantly slimy Darren Boyd), who brings in his sister Jane (Game Of Thrones’ Gwendoline Christie) to look after the house.
So begins David’s pinball-table trajectory through life, which finds him under the watchful gaze of his Aunt Betsey Trotwood (Tilda Swinton doing her wonderful thang).
This feels like a series of wonderful vignettes, glued together in delightfully unexpected ways.
Dev Patel’s assured lead aside, there are some brilliant performances (Ben Whishaw, in particular) and Iannucci’s incredibly diverse casting is a very satisfying two-fingers to Dickens traditionalists.
MOST READ IN FILM
Those same people may wonder where elements of the famous text have gone, or indeed some of the darker parts of the story. Where are the comments on the Victorian underclass?
But this is less Dickens’ thinly veiled autobiography and more a brilliant filmmaker having a whole lot of fun with a classic.
Bravo.